Automated centralized preparation of medications in anticipation of use

Abstract

A centralized system and method for preparing and managing medications prepared in anticipation of use for at a remote location. An order processing server receives a patient-specific dose order from a remote site connected to a remote location through a network. A dose preparation station prepares doses in anticipation of use, information about which is stored in a database. The dose preparation stations can be instructed to prepare certain non-patient-specific doses based on the availability of the stations or the patient-specific dose orders received from the remote site. An application server matches any received dose order with one of the prepared inventory doses based on the stored inventory data, and associates the patient-specific dose order with the inventory dose order. The inventory data is managed to reflect the association of the patient-specific dose order with the matched inventory dose, and the association can be stored in the database.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A centralized system for preparing and managing sterile compounded medication products prepared in anticipation of use at a remote location, the system comprising:
 a dose preparation station for preparation of a plurality of inventory doses based on corresponding inventory dose orders, wherein the inventory doses are non-patient specific doses independent of any particular patient-specific dose order, and wherein the plurality of inventory doses are sterile compounded medication products suitable for administration by intravenous introduction to a patient that do not require any further preparation;   an inventory database configured to store inventory data concerning the plurality of inventory doses prepared at the dose preparation station;   an application server executing software on a processor thereof and configured to access an order database to:
 analyze a plurality of previously received patient-specific dose orders contained in the order database, wherein the plurality of patient-specific dose orders are collectively analyzed without regard to any particular patient-specific dose order to make a determination of how frequently patient-specific-dose orders for a particular type of medication are received, 
 generate at least one inventory dose order for a given particular type of medication according to the determination of how frequently patient-specific-dose orders for the given particular type of medication are received, and 
 instruct the dose preparation station to prepare at least one of the plurality of inventory doses, based on the generated at least one inventory dose order in anticipation of use and prior to receipt of a patient specific dose order for the particular type of medication, such that the dose preparation station prepares at least one of the plurality of inventory doses; and 
   an order processing server connected by a network to a remote site configured to receive a patient-specific dose order from the remote site, wherein, after receipt of the patient specific dose order, the application server is configured to:
 query the inventory data stored in the inventory database regarding the plurality of inventory doses prepared by the dose preparation station for a matching inventory dose corresponding to the patient-specific dose order, wherein:
 in the absence of a match, the application server provides instructions to the dose preparation station to:
 prepare a patient-specific dose that fulfills the received patient-specific dose order, and 
 print a label reflecting an association of the received patient-specific dose order with the patient-specific dose order prepared by the dose preparation station; or 
 
 in the event of a match, the order processing server is operative to associate the received patient-specific dose order with at least one of the plurality of inventory doses previously prepared by the dose preparation station to thereby satisfy the received patient-specific dose order and print a label reflecting an association of the received patient-specific dose order with the at least one of the inventory doses matched to the received patient-specific dose order; 
 
   wherein a match at least comprises the inventory dose and the received patient-specific dose order corresponding to an identical medication.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the application server is further configured to correlate the associated patient-specific dose order with a number of doses in the database. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the application server is further configured to direct the dose preparation station to prepare inventory doses in anticipation of use based on an analysis of at least one of an availability of the dose preparation station and the plurality of previously received patient-specific dose orders received from the remote site. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an order database configured to store information concerning the patient-specific dose order. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the application server is further configured to store the association of the received patient-specific dose order with at least one of the inventory doses in the inventory database. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a control unit configured to forward the inventory dose order to the dose preparation station for preparation of the corresponding inventory dose. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the control unit is further configured to analyze the inventory data concerning the plurality of inventory doses, and generate inventory dose orders in response to the inventory analysis. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of preparation stations. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of preparation stations includes at least one automated preparation station and at least one manual preparation station. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a data store of instructions concerning the preparation of a plurality of sterile compounded medication products which are suitable for preparation at the at least one manual preparation station, wherein the application server is further configured to receive a dose order, the dose order being appropriate for manual sterile preparation, select from the data store an appropriate instruction for the received dose order, and communicate the appropriate instruction to the selected manual preparation station. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the application server is further configured to test a disassociation criteria and disassociate the received patient-specific dose order from the matched inventory dose based on the test results in relation to the disassociation criteria. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the disassociation criteria includes at least one of an expiration date, a purity threshold, and a concentration threshold. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a label processor configured to generate labels for at least one of the inventory doses and the received patient-specific dose. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis of the plurality of previously received patient-specific dose orders also includes determining a type of inventory doses corresponding to a particular type of medication that is below a predetermined inventory level threshold and determining a shelf life for the type of inventory doses corresponding to a particular type of medication and generating the inventory dose orders according to the inventory level threshold and the shelf-life for the type of inventory doses corresponding to a particular types of medications. 
     
     
         15 . A method in support of centralized preparation and management of sterile compounded medication products in anticipation of use at a remote location, the method comprising:
 analyzing a plurality of previously received patient-specific dose orders without regard to any particular patient-specific dose order, the analysis including a determination of how frequently patient-specific-dose orders for at least one particular type of medication are received;   generating, by an application server that is configured by executing software on a processor thereof, a plurality of non-patient-specific inventory dose orders corresponding to the at least one particular type of medication in anticipation of use according to the determination of how frequently patient-specific-dose orders for the particular type of medication are received;   preparing a plurality of inventory doses, based on the generated plurality of inventory dose orders in anticipation of use and prior to a receipt of a patient-specific dose order for the particular type of medication, wherein the preparing is performed at a dose preparation station, based on the inventory dose orders for the particular given type of medication that are delivered to the dose preparation station, wherein the inventory doses are independent of any patient-specific dose order and comprise sterile compounded medication products suitable for administration by intravenous introduction to a patient that do not require further sterile preparation prior to administration;   storing, by the configured application server, in an inventory database inventory data concerning the plurality of inventory doses prepared based on the inventory dose orders at the dose preparation station;   receiving from the remote site a patient-specific dose order;   querying, with the configured application server, the inventory data stored in the database for a match of one or more of the plurality of inventory doses to the received patient-specific dose order, wherein:
 in the absence of a match between the received patient-specific dose order and at least one or more of the plurality of inventory doses, the method further comprises:
 providing, by the configured application server, instructions to the dose preparation station to:
 prepare a patient-specific dose corresponding to the received patient-specific dose order, and 
 print a label with a printer reflecting an association of the received patient-specific dose order with the patient-specific dose prepared at the dose preparation station; or 
 
 
 in the event of a match between the received patient-specific dose order and at least one or more of the plurality of inventory doses, the method further comprises:
 associating, by the configured application server, the received patient-specific dose order with the one or more inventory doses to thereby satisfy the received patient-specific dose order and updating database records to reflect that the at least one of the one or more inventory doses is associated with an individual patient, and 
 printing a label with a printer reflecting an association of the patient-specific dose order with the one or more inventory doses. 
 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , including the additional steps of:
 receiving a priority patient-specific dose order;   instructing the preparation station to prepare a medication dose based on the priority patient-specific dose order; and   associating the medication dose order with the priority patient-specific dose order.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , including the additional step of:
 verifying proper preparation of the inventory doses.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , including the additional steps of:
 examining the result of the verification step; and   selectively approving at least one of the inventory doses for release based on the examination; and   selectively rejecting at least one of the inventory doses based on the examination and resubmitting the non-patient-specific dose order for preparation.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the inventory dose order is prepared with one or more medication sources, the method including the additional steps of:
 recording an image of at least one of the plurality of medication sources; and   associating the image with at least one of the inventory doses in the database inventory data.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , including the additional step of:
 verifying that at least one of the inventory doses was properly prepared based on the recorded image of the at least one of the plurality of medication sources.